Pathway to Japanese Literature

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A Grudge Born of Cursed KarmaAuthor: Emi Suiin

Original Title	悪因縁の怨
Author	江見水蔭
Genre	Historical Fiction
Author Type	Male Author
Summary	In the Tenpō era, when Edo’s geography and customs differed starkly from today, Haneda’s Benten Shrine drew pilgrims to its windswept island of Yōshima. Amid reed beds and tea shops overlooking jade rivers, a young samurai lord and his boisterous poet companion encounter O-Tama, a boatman’s daughter whose beauty rivals the shrine’s goddess. Her sun-kissed grace and quiet strength captivate the lord, sparking a forbidden attraction. Yet their budding romance is shadowed by a dark legacy: O-Tama’s father was a notorious pirate slain by the lord’s own kin, weaving a cursed bond between enemies. As whispers of scandal and lineage threaten their fragile connection, the pair navigate treacherous tides of duty and desire. Against a backdrop of tempests and tea-stall intrigues, their fate unfolds—a collision of love and legacy where even the gods seem to conspire. Will their vows survive the weight of history, or drown beneath waves of ancestral grudge?